The Ghost of You Lingers
by takeawaltz
Summary: What if Emma takes some time to grieve before she realizes that she won't live without Killian? What if it takes longer than a day for her to follow him to the Underworld? (I hope to expand these ideas, please review!)
1. Prologue

**I find it hard to believe that Emma didn't at least try to move on a little bit and that she goes to the Underworld the next day, so these are just my thoughts about things that would have happened if Emma took some time before realizing that she needed to go after him.**

Every time she goes back to the loft, she glances upstairs and imagines he'll appear with a quip, apologizing for the mess.

She walks through town and looks up at the Clock Tower and remembers when she thought she lost him.

She can't sleep alone in the bed upstairs in the house that was meant for their future, so she stays up all night holding onto his ring, and at least that much hasn't changed since the darkness left her.

Regina tells her that something needs to be done with his 300 years of belongings, so Emma goes onto the Jolly Roger to look, but she ends up drinking alone in the Captain's Quarters instead.

Snow and Charming try to talk about funeral arrangements, but all she can imagine when she thinks about it is the ocean.

When they try to say that he should be placed next to Neal, Emma loses it and goes to the pier where he would protect her heart.

At the town line, everyone gathers to turn Dopey back into a person, and Emma knows that not a day has gone by that she hasn't thought of him.

When she makes the decision to go back to work, she picks up the box of her childhood and puts on her old glasses and that plastic ring for a little while.

She goes home and smells the flower he gave her in Camelot. Fearful that the flower might lose its scent, she enchants it so that the scent, and the memory, do not fade.

On Sunday nights at Granny's, she can't bring herself to play darts with Henry because it reminds her of him

Everything reminds her of him.

 **A/N - I'm hoping to write these little thoughts into scenes and maybe even a longer fic over the hiatus, so think of this chapter as a prologue. Also, the title is a song by Spoon. Please review and thank you so much for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2

Emma knows it's going to happen before it does. Everyday at 5:15, she hears the car pull up on the street, the sound of a car door being shut, the rhythmic steps of heels on the porch steps, the deep sigh, and the chiming of the doorbell. She's only on the couch in the front room, but she always takes long enough to reach the door that Regina starts to knock. Before the mayor gets a second hit, the door swings open. It's the same thing everyday: Regina, with her pitying eyes and covered tray of lasagna, waits for Emma to say the first word, which is always a hoarse but quiet, "Come in."

As Regina takes off her shoes, she notes that Emma had left hers neatly beside the door with two empty spaces on either side, and Regina knows not to take either place. She flips her hair out of her eyes, and asks a question she already knows the answer to, "Where should I set this down?"

After a pause, Emma replies, "Next to the oven, I think I'll want to heat it up later." To Regina, this means that Emma won't have dinner until tomorrow morning. It wasn't easy seeing Emma this depressed, which was unfortunately made easier by the fact that Emma hadn't been very sociable since Hook died and never gave Regina much of a reason to linger in the house.

Moving closer to the door, she starts, "Well, if you don't need anything-"

"Wait! I forgot to ask, would you like anything to drink?" Emma says with more fervor than usual. Then she adds, her voice dropping slightly, "I don't have anything very strong, though."

"Tea would be fine, thank you. I don't really have anywhere to be."

As Emma moved into the kitchen and began to make tea for the both of them, Regina looked into the living room, which wasn't really much of a lively room. Sure, the space was well-suited to be comfortable and welcoming, but the reality was that no one had ever settled in and really _lived_ there. She chose a seat across from the couch, and reminded herself not to lose her patience.

With two steaming mugs in hand, Emma strode into her living room, set the mugs atop coasters, and sat down on the couch across from Regina.

After some time passed, Regina began tentatively, "Was there something that you wanted to talk about?"

Without looking at Regina, Emma almost whispers, "How did you cope with it? After… after…" Once her voice trails off, Regina realizes she was being asked about how to deal with grief. Caught off her guard, Regina blinks a few times and then says, "Well, I didn't. You know that. I blamed your mother and spent years spiraling into darkness until it almost consumed me. I took decades to let Daniel go, and even then, I only really recovered after meeting Robin. I know that it's because of Daniel that I fear to lose Robin the same way."

After Emma doesn't respond, Regina continues, "But that won't happen to you because there are different circumstances here. Daniel was murdered by my own mother, and Killian sacrificed himself to save all of us for the greater good. He made a decision, Emma, and he knew what he was doing."

Regina notices that Emma is no longer looking down at her drink, but right at Regina, ever silent with her tired eyes. Again, Regina pauses and then continues, "You can't live on grief, Emma. The same as revenge, it won't sustain you, and you'll be empty all the same. I think it's a good idea for you to go and talk to Archie. Things will never be easy, but that doesn't mean they won't get better."

Emma's eyes follow Regina as she stands up, "I should be going, actually, Henry will notice I'm late and Robin has trouble managing dinner without me."

Understandingly, Emma replies, "Of, course. I'd hate to keep you waiting." Once Regina has her shoes on again and is about to walk about the door, Emma calls out, "Thank you, Regina."

"Anytime," she says with a sad smile and walks back to her car, leaving Emma alone once again. Only this time, she feels different, and she eats dinner at 6:30, and is able to taste the hot pepper this time.


End file.
